The England and Wales Cricket Board will continue working on a series of rescue plans for the sport that prioritise its money-making formats after accepting the upcoming home season cannot start before 28 May.
Announcing this initial delay following a board meeting yesterday, the ECB said it was now devising three new schedules for possible starts in June, July or August, all of which still remain at the mercy of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
It means the first seven rounds of the County Championship, due to start on 12 April, will definitely not take place as intended. And doubts remain as to whether the competition, and the already diminished 50-over Royal London Cup, can take place at all in 2020.
They may yet appear in a reduced capacity but the ECB must first look to the financial needs of the sport, such that finding a way to stage international cricket, T20 Blast and The Hundred – its chief revenue-drivers – is the aim for what will be a truncated season at best.
Tom Harrison, the ECB chief executive, said: “During this period of deep uncertainty it is the ECB’s first priority to protect the wellbeing of everyone within the cricket family, from players, to fans and colleagues across the game. The decision to delay the start of the season has been essential, given the circumstances the nation faces. We will make the very best of whatever length of season we are able to safely schedule in the coming months.
“With the information available to us at the moment a delay to the start of the professional cricket season until May 28 was unavoidable. This also allows us time to keep pace with a fast-moving situation and continue to plan for how a revised season might look. Critically, we can also remain as flexible and adaptable as possible, within the obvious restrictions we face.
“Securing the future of the game will be a primary focus as we plot a revised schedule with an emphasis on the most financially important forms of the game for the counties across international and domestic cricket.’’
While a holding pattern of sorts, the delay has been endorsed by the Professional Cricket Association and at least gives a degree of clarity for the 18 county squads across the country who have seen their pre-season preparations paused.
The ECB said it will continue to liaise with the government and within the announcement came a suggestion that the season could begin behind closed doors at first, “giving sports fans the opportunity for live broadcast action.”
Whether this would be suitable for England’s three-Test series against West Indies that is scheduled to start at the Oval on 4 June – the first international cricket of the summer – remains to be seen.
This tour may still need to be pushed back, so too the T20 Blast that was due to start on 28 May and is considered so important to the 18 first-class counties, making up around 90% of their revenues outside of central ECB payments.
International men’s cricket remains king, of course, and after West Indies come the visits of Australia for six white-ball matches, Pakistan for three Tests and three T20 matches, and Ireland for three ODIs, all of which must somehow be accomodated. England’s women are also due to host white-ball series’ against India and South Africa from the end of June. In its statement the ECB insisted that one of its key goals this year remains “supporting the women’s game to continue its growth journey.”
The biggest question is whether the ECB can launch The Hundred during such uncertain times. The hope remains that, with 10 men’s matches on BBC and the entirety on Sky, it could capture the imagination of a sport-starved nation.
Should The Hundred’s inaugural season take place then it will be without one of its marquee names after it emerged that David Warner has now withdrawn from his £125,000 deal to play for the Southampton-based Southern Brave.
It is of huge concern to the ECB that overseas stars may begin pulling out en masse, but the Australian opener’s agent, James Erskine, has told the Sydney Morning Herald that the pandemic was not a factor in his client’s recent decision.
Instead Warner, 33, is seemingly keen to reduce his workload and also remain available for an ODI series against Zimbabwe in August that theoretically clashes with the back end of The Hundred despite the general sense of uncertainty.
Another factor is believed to be talk of the Indian Premier League, currently delayed until 15 April, being pushed to a similar time of year. Erskine has stated that Warner will definitely make himself available for Sunrisers Hyderabad, the franchise he captains on a £1.3m deal.
Australian all-rounder Marcus Stoinis has been lined up as Warner’s replacement in The Hundred but like Aaron Finch, Glenn Maxwell, Steven Smith and Mitchell Starc – all down to appear in the tournament – he could yet be forced to leave early if selected for his national team.
